The_Wayward_Admiral
Spacefaring
The_Real_Slim_Shady
Atrox drew this awesome image of the Keldori!
Posts: 1,011 
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Post by The_Wayward_Admiral on Oct 8, 2015 3:15:53 GMT
So I do a lot of stuff on my own, including mental evolution simulators! I'll just leave the rules for my notebook game here for those interested or who have long train commutes in the mornings:
The Planet
This set of rules changes with my mood. I either use a random number generator to set up a planet, or I build one that I want to work with.
Sun:
1: F Type (Warmer)
2: G Type (Our sun)
3: H Type (Cooler)
Mass:
1: .75 Earth Mass
2: Earth Mass
3: 1.25 Earth Mass
4: 1.50 Earth Mass
Water:
1: Scant amount
2: Half of Earth's
3: Roughly Earth like
4: Fair bit more than Earth
5: Ocean Planet
The Species
The Point is random mutations, so I arrange the possible mutations into categories and then select at random.
Categories:
Cellular, Behavior, Body Plan, Integument, Digestive, Respiratory, Circulatory, Immune, Nervous, Reproductive, Skeletal, Muscular, Other Edit: Whoops, forgot Endocrine!
Mutations are any feature that your creature could have, this is up to you based on what else your creature has developed and what environment it's in. Simply place the mutation in a category, assign a number to each category, and then a number to each item in that category. Generate randomly.
Events
I usually have an event every five turns, these events change the environment.
1: Glaciation
2: Hothouse
3: Nearby Nova
4: Meteor
5: Earthquakes
6: Volcanism
7: Habitat Change (you choose a sensical bordering biome to move into)
These are also selected by random number generator, and if you want you can rank severity on a one to five scale.
So yeah, when done with a smattering of imagination, this leads to cool stuff, and you can do it with any amount of detail you desire. I use a random number generator on my tablet to do this on airplanes and the train. I have gotten cool stuff, like a hydrothermal vent dwelling ant-eater, and a seal with a tortoise shell. Anyway, have fun, and Thrive!
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The_Wayward_Admiral
Spacefaring
The_Real_Slim_Shady
Atrox drew this awesome image of the Keldori!
Posts: 1,011
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Post by The_Wayward_Admiral on Oct 8, 2015 3:25:14 GMT
Forgot to mention: you make three mutations every turn
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The_Wayward_Admiral
Spacefaring
The_Real_Slim_Shady
Atrox drew this awesome image of the Keldori!
Posts: 1,011
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Post by The_Wayward_Admiral on Oct 9, 2015 0:47:58 GMT
Examples of mutations:
Cellular: Lysozomes
Behavior: K Strategy
Body Plan: Symmetry (bilateral vs pentalateral) okay, so i don't know the terms for what the echinoderms are doing with their lives...
Integument: Scales
etc.
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Post by GabrielGG on Oct 17, 2015 12:55:02 GMT
I don't understand so well, but i wanna join hehe. I can create a planet?
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The_Wayward_Admiral
Spacefaring
The_Real_Slim_Shady
Atrox drew this awesome image of the Keldori!
Posts: 1,011
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Post by The_Wayward_Admiral on Oct 17, 2015 14:30:28 GMT
This isn't a forum game, the idea is to do this in your notebook so you're not bored on public transit. I will take a scan of an example when I get home. Sorry for the confusion!
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The_Wayward_Admiral
Spacefaring
The_Real_Slim_Shady
Atrox drew this awesome image of the Keldori!
Posts: 1,011
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Post by The_Wayward_Admiral on Oct 17, 2015 15:08:43 GMT
Not the most detailed I've ever done, but it follows the most up-to-date incarnation of the rules. |
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Post by holomanga on Oct 19, 2015 8:17:34 GMT
Signalling Mechanics, Colonising, Cytosis, Loss of Cell Wall
Reproductive Pilae, Multicellularism, Vacuoles, Cephalisation
We didn't start the fire!
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The_Wayward_Admiral
Spacefaring
The_Real_Slim_Shady
Atrox drew this awesome image of the Keldori!
Posts: 1,011
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Post by The_Wayward_Admiral on Nov 5, 2015 2:20:26 GMT
Alternate Rule Set:
I was inspired by the Official Thrive Forum Game Competition to make a special variation of this game, and I finally organized these new guidelines into a coherent train of thought for your viewing pleasure.
Survival Status:
Now, instead of just being a sandbox type game, there is a goal! You now have a reason to fear the environment you wind up with as your species can go extinct if you play by these rules:
Levels of Endangerment (similar, possibly identical to OTFCG):
1) Critically Endangered, will go extinct barring a miracle
2) Endangered, in need of some serious evolutionary chicken soup
3) Threatened, should look into its options
4) Vulnerable, doing alright, but all these young, hot, new species seem to be more successful
5) Safe, at the peak of fitness
These would be assigned each round based on the environment your unfortunate creature finds itself stuck in. Just a neat way to make the game lose-able. You can also keep track of population numbers if you want, for a more set in stone metric.
Mutation Excellence
In the standard rule set, your creature is blessed (or cursed, I suppose) with whatever your mind could come up with, but you could so choose to assign a 1-5 random variable that determines the effectiveness of the mutation (obviously, some mutations will not be affected, i.e. cephalization).
1) Meh.
2) It does its job
3) Say, this is swell
4) Wow, this mutation does a really great job!
5) Bow down before the majesty of this mutation and tremble!!!!
The excellence will help you (or hurt you) in your quest to avoid Critical Endangerment.
Anyway, just some simple rules to spice up the notebook game, while retaining the random element central to the original idea. I will post an example once I've completed a round with this rule set.
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The_Wayward_Admiral
Spacefaring
The_Real_Slim_Shady
Atrox drew this awesome image of the Keldori!
Posts: 1,011
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Post by The_Wayward_Admiral on Nov 7, 2015 4:36:02 GMT
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Post by Atrox on Nov 7, 2015 4:46:39 GMT
I'm confused as to how this works :0
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The_Wayward_Admiral
Spacefaring
The_Real_Slim_Shady
Atrox drew this awesome image of the Keldori!
Posts: 1,011
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Post by The_Wayward_Admiral on Nov 7, 2015 6:09:10 GMT
Basically, you start with a random number generator (several are free in the apple appstore). With this you can construct a planet based on the values in the first post (so if the generator gave me a 1, 3, & 4 the planet would be slightly larger than Earth with a healthy compliment of water orbiting an F type star). This will allow you to consider the biomes available. You choose a starting biome (I usually go with Hydrothermal Vents, Saline Flows, or Atolls) to begin with your starting organism. Based on what your organism already possesse, and what environment its in, you can construct a list of possible mutations and assign a number value to them (I organize them into subcategories to keep better track, thus the cellular, behavior, etc.). Using the same random number generator, you make three mutations a "turn" (with the alternate rule set you also have the option of assigning a random excellence value) and every five turns (or really whenever you feel like it) you roll for a disaster which changes relevant environments. There is no real end-goal, but its neat to see what random action creates. Hope this helps/makes a modicum of sense.
Edit: on mutations: If for instance my animal has blood vessels, it can start looking into having a heart, so I add it to the mutation list and give it a value.
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Post by Atrox on Nov 7, 2015 7:15:09 GMT
Oh I see :0
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!Tilly!
Aware
i love scifi stuff but im too stupid to take part lel
Posts: 145
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Post by !Tilly! on Nov 23, 2015 2:05:42 GMT
www.random.org^^^Perfectly free Random Number Generator that I use 100% of the time -v-
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Post by elementalred on Nov 23, 2015 17:37:24 GMT
www.random.org^^^Perfectly free Random Number Generator that I use 100% of the time -v- Well this looks interesting. I might put it in my favorites. Thanks ~Sharpie~. |
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The_Wayward_Admiral
Spacefaring
The_Real_Slim_Shady
Atrox drew this awesome image of the Keldori!
Posts: 1,011
|
Post by The_Wayward_Admiral on Jan 22, 2016 16:46:00 GMT
In addition to the base mental exercise and the OTFGC mimic ruleset, I have been working on a comprehensive list of ecosystem variables which Aquos and Atrox were kind enough to assist me with. With this set, you should be able to make the most alien environments imaginable. Naturally, when one's planet is drastically different from the one we know and have a love/hate relationship with, it can be difficult to imagine a sensible bordering biome. So if you roll a seven on your disaster chart (moving biomes) while using this ruleset, you simply have to select three variables in the "specific variables" category and roll to change them. Other than producing weird environments, this ruleset provides no real change to the base notebook game. There is some degree of arbitrary limitation simply because it becomes very hard to work with an ecosystem that is just absolutely insane.
Variables...In...Spaaaaaaaace:
Distance to Galactic Center [1-4, one being the farthest reach of the galaxy, four being pressed right up against the black hole]
Frequency of Passage Through Galactic Midline [1-3, one being infrequent, three being quite a bit]
Number of Nearby Hypermassive Stars [1-5, self explanatory]
Density of Oort Cloud [1-5, one being a fairly barren Ooort Cloud, five being a very dense one]
Number of Gas Giants in Outer Solar System [1-5, self explanatory]
Ecosystem Existence on Lunar Body Y/N? [1-2, one being yes, two being no]
Distance to Star [1-5, one being Mercury close, two being Venus close, three being Earth close, four being Mars close, five being Jupiter close]
Type of Star [1-4, one being red dwarf, two being H type, three being G type, four being F type]
Number of Satellites [1-3, one meaning no satellites, three meaning two satellites]
Size of Satellites [1-5, roll separately for each satellite, one being very small, five being very large]
Age of Solar System [1-5, one being very young, five being near death]
Orbital Eccentricity [1-5, one being extremely circular, five being extremely elliptical]
Geological Stuff:
Metallic Abundance in Crust [1-5, one being metal poor, five being metal rich]
Mass of Planet [1-10, one being Pluto sized, ten being "Super Earth" sized, this category is very subjective and I will not offer a really definite scale]
Abundance of Water [1-5, one being very little water, five being an ocean planet]
Rotational Velocity [1-5, one being a very slow rotation, five being very fast]
Rotational Direction [1-2, one being vertical, two being horizontal]
Axial Tilt [1-5, one being almost none, five being almost forty five degrees]
Planetary Wobble [1-3, one being not very much, three being quite a bit]
Specific Variables:
Relative Elevation [1-10, one being exceedingly deep, ten being exceedingly high, again a very arbitrary scale]
Latitude [1-51, subtract one from the rolled number to discern the latitude]
Average Airspeed [1-5, one being quite slow, five being quite fast]
Land Area Between Environment and Large Water Body [1-5, one being bordering, five being extremely distant]
Surrounding Mountains [1-5, one being none, five being a lengthy chain]
Height of Surrounding Mountains [1-5, if applicable, one being very short, five being very very tall]
Standard Elevation Deviation [1-5, one being smooth terrain, five being highly variable terrain]
Soil Cover [1-5, one being thin, five being thick]
Proximity to Fault Line [1-5, one being on top of, five being very distant]
Succession Level [1-3, one being no succession, two being primary, three being secondary]
I will say that it takes a long time to set this environment up, and as such I have yet to play a round this way. Also: many of the variables are highly general so that I didn't have to write as much. Sorry about that.
Elements that are impacted by other varibales:
-Volcanism is influenced by solar system age (which by default influences planetary age), with a young solar system/planet being very volcanically active, and an older one being more dormant. -Density of atmosphere is largely determined by planetary mass, with larger planets hosting thicker atmospheres. |
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